OK, it’s no surprise that I’m constantly roaming store aisles for bargain K-Cups for my Keurig single-serve coffee maker. You can read my review here on Kirkland Pacific Bold cups found at Costco. The DIYer can check out my thoughts on the As Seen on TV Café Cup that you fill yourself by clicking this page.

I knew there was a new player in the single-serve cup game after watching those insipid TV ads featuring the Swede with the DIY bleach job and dreadful navy velvet blazer crashing the women’s book club with his sunny yellow bag of Gevalia coffee.

I was familiar with the coffee decades ago when magazine ads would tout this special-order java. And if you bought a certain amount of coffee, you would get this:

I had to have that ceramic canister. Of course, it probably ended up at a yard sale, because I have no clue where it is, and had to find an image online. But, boy, did I want that thing at the time. And that’s pretty much all I remember about Gevalia coffee, except that I never associated Sweden with coffee.

So, once the ads appeared for the ground coffee, I figured it was only a matter of minutes before single-serve cups popped up. I found Gevalia cups on sale and couldn’t resist giving them a try. Is this Swedish coffee worth it? Check out my results.

Gevalia Kaffe Dark Royal Roast Single Serve Cups, $5.99 (sale price, and $8.99 regular) for a box of 12 cups.

First look: The bright yellow box is hard to miss.

And, as you can see, the cups are designed with ridges, unlike other single serve cups.

The cups contain 100 percent Arabica coffee. The box touts “an exceptionally smooth, never bitter, coffee.” And, unlike most other brands, Gevalia gives you specific instructions by telling you to select the 8-ounce brew. I guess they figure if you bought a dark roast, then there’s no need to muck it up with too much water. The 8-ounce is usually my choice, so I didn’t have an issue with that. Oh, and it also states, twice, that the coffee will be very hot after brewing. Some things you just can’t argue with.

Good news: The sale price was good news. At first. I can’t think of another nice thing to say. Wait. The ridges on the cups are sort of pretty. I like yellow.

Bad news: I never shy away from bold, flavorful coffee. And when you promise me, as Gevalia did, an intense, complex, full-bodied cup of java, then I shouldn’t have to endure a vapid, Johnny One Note with as much body as a jelly fish and a bitter edge that makes me long for coffee from a hospital vending machine. And, sure, it was strong, but that hardly translates to a good cup of joe.

Last words: Gevalia Dark Royal Roast was a bitterly disappointing cup of coffee.

Hi there~
Thank you for your review on the Gevalia….I was about to pick it up recently @ the store (on sale) but I didn’t think it would be strong enough for my liking:) glad that I didn’t!
I’m still a big fan of the Pacific Bold:)

Michelle, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’m glad you skipped the Gevalia. Once in a while, I like a flavored coffee, if it’s on sale. I noticed the 12-cup box of Don Francisco’s vanilla nut for around $5.99 the other day. I picked it up. Not bad at all, and what I’m really impressed with is that there’s no sediment on the bottom of my cup. Now, this isn’t a super rich or bold cup of coffee, but a mellow vanilla-spiked one that was worth the price. FYI. As always, thanks for reading.